Kerie Campbell owner of Epicurean-Hermit ABOUT ME I am in Oakland, CA, and am 40 years old. All my life, every beach I’ve been to around the world, I’ve spent the entire trip chasing crabs. I love the little critters. I don’t know what it is about them, but I find them to be fascinating. Whole afternoons have slipped by while I pursued both land and marine crabs. Oh, the sunburns I have had! Then, on October 8, 2004, I won a crab at a fair. I am up to 15 crabs now (as of December 30, 2004), in a climate­controlled 120 gallon tank complete with filtered fresh and salt water ponds. I thought I could stop with seven, but I was mistaken. I have kept exotic pets on and off since I was 14 years old.I have had scorpions, lizards, birds, and snakes. Snakes were the creatures I had the best success keeping alive. When I started keeping exotics, there was no internet, and not much proper information on their care. I lost several lizards and the scorpions, most probably to climactic deficiencies. In the ‘80’s I had a hermit crab. Like the other exotics, I had no real idea how to care for it, and the information I was given was incorrect. It either died, or I threw it out when it molted, not knowing anything about their molt cycle. Either way, I have felt sad about it ever since. After I won the crab in October, I went on­line to find out how to care for it properly, and was appalled to find out that the information I was given for its care was incorrect and, in some cases, perhaps deadly to the animal. I’ve spent the past three months learning more and more about their keeping, and adding crabs to my menagerie. I love to do research, and would have gone into the sciences, had I better math skills. Sadly, I am mathematically challenged, and could not pursue a career on that path. Finding hermit crabs, though, I have found a renewed interest in research and the sciences. I have just joined the Crustacean Society, a world­wide organization of crustacean researchers, mainly so I could have access to the Journal of Crustacean Biology. I have located many research papers on crab biology on­line, and am being given access to others by Vanessa Pike­Russell?. I have found that my main interest is in diet and nutrition, and am working on that particular line of inquiry in my own crabitat. Part of my original research on crabs and their care led me towards organic food for their feeding, as crustaceans are sensitive to chemicals. In researching their care, I have come to the realization that I’m also poisoning my own family with food additives, and am in the process of switching my entire household onto strictly organic foods. My crabs eat like little kings and queens, with a large and varied menu of human­grade organic foods including meats and seafood, algaes (seaweed and spirulina), fruits, nuts, flowers, greens, grains and local pure honey. I have had four molts so far, all successful, and the color of my post­molt crabs is becoming darker. I feel that the diet I feed my crabs so far is doing them well. I know I still have a lot to learn, but am confident in my abilities as a crab keeper now. I have accepted the honor of being the local representative for CSJ at Vanessa’s behest. I really enjoy the antics of my crusty little friends. I feel fortunate, even blessed, to have found such a wonderful community of fellow crab­lovers. I look forward to many years of observation and tank rearranging.

Crablover Don Don Drenning was a walking encyclopedia of hermie knowledge and was a pioneer of sorts. It was CLD who experimented with todays standards such as the use of StresCoat®?, ESU® MoonGlow? bulbs, the Two Sponge System, Hermie Buffets and much more. He was one of the first people to have successful Ecuadorian moults. Don was a frequent poster on landhermitcrabs.com, hermitworld, hammies and horsies, and Vanessa’s InsideTheWeb messageboards, often zapping his energy in the process. In 1999 Don was made a moderator of Hermies Onelist, (which later became eGroups and now Yahoo!Groups), in recognition of the countless hours he spent answering questions on land hermit crab care. It was Don’s fervent hope that Hermies could be a community for land hermit crab owners, and along with Vanessa, the group owner, and later Jennifer Borgesen as co­moderator, he invited people he knew and respected to join Hermies and create an active, safe and supportive community for land hermit crab owners, cutting down on the need to read multiple boards which usually held the same types of questions. A lot of the messages Don wrote to Hermies OneLIST/eGroups/Yahoo!Groups can be found at the ‘in progress’ CLD_on site. http://geocities.com/CLD_on What we would like is for everyone who knew Don, especially people who he has helped either directly or indirectly, to share your rememberances of him. There are some members who talked with him on the phone, or shared lengthy communications by email. Now that CLD is no longer with us, his words of wisdom are a testimony to the caring, generous man that was Crablover Don. If you have something that you would like to share, we would love to read about it. We would also like to hear form those people who have adopted KritterlandUSA hermit crabs, perhaps give an update on how they are, and/or share photos. Crablover Don, a friend to all the ‘little critters of God’ and a good friend to many hermit crabbers that benefited from his time among us. JUNE­ 19­99 A bright light went out at Kritterlandusa today… But in turn, our clear sky shines brighter tonight… in the skies there is a new star… Our sweet, beautiful and beloved ‘little big guy’ KING peacefully passed away. No sign of illness, warning or other problems… KING was alert and active this morning and a short time later, our darling little friend was gone! I guess he felt that he had accomplished what he ‘needed to do’ in his short time here. He took over the ‘house duties’ of DUKE upon his death…even though his reign was a short thirteen weeks… KING continued his faithful watch over his ‘flock’… His surprise and worry­free molt… such a short time after our loss of DUKE… never wanting to bother or worry us with any concern. Maybe not as out­going as his predecessor, DUKER, KING had that friendly and fatherly respect of all the smaller and more active guys in his care. Odd that we should lose our elder statesman on the eve of Father’s Day! When I went in to ‘visit’and play with the guys this afternoon, I realized something was not right. Several of the other fellas were wandering around KING… not bothering him, but just acting oddly. It was then I checked him out and discovered that he was gone…those bright clean eyes were ‘fixed’… his long fluttering antennae were still… No odor or anything else was unsual … KING had just passed on… just peacefully gone! He has just been good old KING recently…doing his normal thing… I guess his aging body was ready and he felt that he had done his duty and it was his time to ‘rest’… The tears are here, but I think out of respect for such a fine friend and buddy, I will try to suppress my grief and outward emotion… KING […]

Carol ‘CrabWorks’ Ormes Vanessa wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2006 A friend (Mike) shared this link with me! Go Carol! Crabtacular Resident Owns Two 29 ­Year ­Old Hermit Crabs by Eric Kurfess FORT MYERS – ­If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning, you may feel a little crabby. Well, here at Shell Point, we were lucky enough to find someoe who wakes up on the right side of the bed with the same feeling. Carol Ann Ormes (Parkwood) is the loving caretaker of her two pet crabs. Carol has what may be thetwo oldest living land hermit crabs in the world. Jonathan Livingston Crab and Crab Kate will turn 29 years old in August, far surpassing the life span of youraverage land hermit crab. And Carol should know her online photo gallery is one of the top links from the unofficial crab website, CrabStreetJournal.com. Land hermit crabs in captivity typically have a life span of one or two years, depending on how well they are taken care of. After nearly three decades, Carol clearly takes every possible precaution to ensure her tiny friends’ safety and good health. When asked about her secret to the crabs’ longevity, she said, “Since the crabs came from a humid climate, I figured I should create a tank that was humid for them.” Other enthusiasts are known to keep their crabs in a dry, sandy environment, but according to Carol, this results in a shorter life span, as the crab will dry out and their exo­skeleton will become brittle and crack. Each crab has his own distinct personality. Jonathan, for instance, is an adventurer and war veteran. Carol explains: “Jonathan is an explorer and he wants to get out and run around. He once climbed up the bathroom wall. When I wasn’t looking he fell off and he broke about a nickel­ sized hole in his shell. That was the first time it had happened in 29 years, so I had to give him a quick bath. Then I concocted a patch with a purple heart for him and he just loved it.” http://www.shellpoint.org/news/2005/070105­crabs.html And Carol (aka CrabWorks) makes the news AGAIN!! 7/21/08 Hermit crabs don’t have to fade away NYLS501 By LINDA LOMBARDI For The Associated Press It’s a summer tradition in many beach and boardwalk towns: you buy the kids a hermit crab in a brightly painted shell, take it home, and then, usually, it dies. You figure they don’t live very long, and move on. But for Carol Ormes it turned out to be a bit more of a commitment. When a friend bought a crab on a trip to Ocean City, Md., Ormes says, “I said that that was the ugliest thing I ever saw ­ I don’t want that in my house! But after a week of it crawling around the house, I fell in love with that little guy.” So she got Jonathan Livingston Crab on the way home from the beach, and his friend Crab Kate later at a mall. They now live with Ormes at a retirement community in Fort Myers, Fla., and are about to turn 32 years old. Ormes is a bit of a local celebrity ­ “The crabby lady, they call me ­ although not everyone is clear on the source of her fame: at a local restaurant recently, “someone asked, how are your snails? They’re not snails, nor particularly closely related to the crabs we eat. And Ormes is far from the only one who loves them. You can […]